Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1887-11-11

INOs fCs
One or two drew in their legs timidly,
but nobody attempted to reply.
"Well?" sharply interrogated the skip
per. 'Is the bo'sun among you? Why
doesn't he answer"
Silence The light of the ireman's
lamp ''glinted" on a SMALL bright object
in Capt Lawson's hand. The sight of it
brought the carpenter to his senses, and
he shouted sulkily; "Bo'sun amt ere,
Cap'n Lawson. He's mad. And no Won
if I was to pass another night in that
there fo'csle Why, the ships 'aunted-
There! listen to that!''
Again the faint, despairing cry made
itself heard above the roar of the waves.
The wind seemed to bring it and the
wind swept it away again. Its weird
agony awakened something of super
stitious dread even in the shippers mind.
The men covered close together.
Leaving his crew where they were, the
captain made his way to the starboard
fo'c'sle, and called the bo'sun by name.
No answer Then he entered the alley
way and walked up the length of it. Be
hind the stove at the far end he found the
bo'sun, huddled down on his launches, in
nothing but his sleeping shirt. The man
was staring, stark mad. His one eye was
bloodshot and wild, and the other empty
pit glared up darkly. The skipper was
no coward, yet at the sight of this half
naked mailman he quailed a little and felt
sorry that he had found him; but only
for moment. He stepped quickly past
the stove to lay hands on Dredge, and as
he did so, once more that wailing voice
bore through the storm its message of in
finite, helpless agony. At the sound
Dredge leaped to his feet, and crying out
loudly, cts Bill as is CALM of mel I'm
comm, lad-fathers comin'P' burst out
of the fo'c'sle and away across the deck,
and was up on the lee bulwark and over
the side in a flash. The skipper made
rush for the door, to attempt to secure the
fleeing figure, but in vain. just for half
a second the mailman was visible in his
f1uttering shirt on the reeling bulwark,
and then went over into the darkness and
those tumbling SEAS
Mr.. Bubble saw the deed from the
bridge, and, springing to the telegraph,
rang the ship to full stop; and then,
whipping out his knife, ripped and sawed
at the cords with which the ifeboat was
dashed to the bridge rail, and dashing
down the ladder to the afterdeck, flung
| the belt overheard from the stern. But,
of course, it was trouble thrown away.
| And even if a boat could have lived in
such sea and mel found to man it, the
bo'sun would have drowned three times
over before we could have got one lowered
and started out to find him in waste of
black and stormy waters. After wallow
| ing about some ten minutes or so for de-
cency's sake, the skipper rang the ship
under steam again, and we slowly drew
away, leaving the body of our bosun
! tossing somewhere in our wake.
That was the last of the voice. Neither
out nor home did we hear any more talk
| about the ship being haunted. We made
i prosperous run, and were docked again
in the Tyne before the seventh week was
over. Then the secret came out. The
Valiant was scraped and painted, and ran
sacked and repaired from stem to stern
post In that narrow den called the fore
peak, which serves as the ships lumber
room, beneath mass of old iron cables
and rusty cordage, we found the corpse OF
lad withered to mummy. The rats
had been at him, too, and his feet were
gone Beside him there lay an empty
meat tin; and in one of his pockets was an
old silver watch with this inscription on
it: ''To BILL, with Fathers love-" 1t
was the bosun's son. The poor fellow
had stolen aboard as a stowaway; for,
being a sickly lad, his father had been
strongly against his following the sea. 1u
the storm the plunging of the ship had
shaken down upon him all the lumber il
the forepeak, and he had screamed for his
father till he died.-Chambers' Journal
Our Hotel Haunting Aristocracy.
Every season the noble army of wouii
be aristocrats is swelled We now have /
distinct, untitled, sham aristocracy which
is infinitely entertaining. Go to any OF
the summer hotels throughout the land
and you will find a large percentage Of
well bred, well dressed, handsome Jews
who interfere with no one, and never
mingle outside their own race; a larger
percentage of wealthy gentiles, who weal
gorgeous dresses, have gorgeous turn outs
gorgeous manners, and gorgeous disre
gard for grammar; a few quiet, wei
bred, reserved families, who lead retirct
lives and bother no one; and small col
ony of soi-dist mt great ones, towart
whom the eyes of every one are constantly
turning. These people, on their arrival
send forth the fiat that "they don't care
remarks of theirs, to the effect thai
''there is no one in the house with whom
they care to associate" are constantly il
circulation among the guests, and leavs
some sore, some angry, some jealous, ant
few philosophers amused. 1t is the Sc
cret desire of half the people in the hote
to be admitted into this exclusive para
disc; they would do anything to be ablt
to sit in the heart of that little clique, a:
it forms an aristocratic hollow square OF
the shady side of the piazza. But rarely
are their pains rewarded. The hollow
square shows chilling disregard of theil
existence, which is more crushing thai
deliberate insult At the same time
however, the young female hollow square
shows no disregard for the existence o
such young male pariahs as may be dang
ling about She absorbs them with wei
bred tranquility, and hangs their scalp
round her belt, smiling dreamily.
But these hotel haunting aristocrats ar
not genuine. They are only good coun
terfeits. Were they real they would hav
had cottages long ago. But they ar
smart, and they think that it's much bet
ter to reign in hell than serve in heaven
thousand times better to rule in hote
than be ignored in a cottage. They are
moreover, clever managers, and hav
given the subject study. Every attribut
is as it should be. They dress well ant
talk we'll Their manners are good, saw
in the case of the lofty hauteur to whicl
they treat their so called social interiors
and their social interiors are more i'm
pressed by this than they would be by tn
refined suavity of natures grandes danes
Taking them all in all, they are remarka
} bly, good shams, and as such deserve muc
praise. The possessor of brains is rarit
, not to be sneered at, even though he us
his brains to make himself fool.-Ney
York Cor. Argonaut
/ Heaven in Mexico.
: In the state of Vera Cruz, 100 mile
, from the city of that name, there is